Log-jam in acid-base education and investigation: why make it so difficult?
Medical students frequently have difficulty in interpreting acid-base data particularly when pH values are used. The difficulty persists when students qualify and has implications for the safe management of patients who require investigation of acid-base status. Simplification of tuition is required together with a change of practice in the reporting of acid-base data by the laboratories. To improve understanding, we recommend that the teaching and reporting of acid-base status should be changed to use [H+] instead of pH, and a greater emphasis placed on the logical interpretation of primary measurements--that is [H+] and PCO2--with less reliance on derived variables.
Hooper
J
J
Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Royal Brompton Hospital, London, UK.
Marshall
W J
WJ
Miller
A L
AL
D000136:Acid-Base Equilibrium; D004501:Education, Medical; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires